Coding

“Learning to code makes kids feel empowered, creative, and confident. If we want our young [kids] to retain these traits into adulthood, a great option is to expose them to computer programming in their youth. ” – Senior Vice President, Google

Let me be transparent with you. When I first heard that students around the world in grades K-5 were learning how to program computers & write lines of code, I couldn’t believe it. I told myself that Computer Programming is too foreign for me to even wrap my head around. Many of my 5 & 6 year olds couldn’t read… how in the world could they write code for a program? This is probably the mindset of many teachers, like myself. It wasn’t until I found the website Code.org that I had a major paradigm shift. I found infographics like the one below, I read blogs on Coding, and I pledged to the hour of code.

Here is how I started Coding with my Kindergartners. First we watched this phenomenal video. My kids were so excited to see many familiar faces talking to them!

Kodable is a programming game for children in grades K-5. Kodable is self-paced, it prompts children when a new concept is introduced, and it is fun! My favorite thing about this coding app is the ability to set up & track your students, Kodable is differentiated & easy to track student progress on any iPad.

Kodable helps children to develop the problem solving skills, logic, and synergistic views that are crucial in learning to succeed as a computer programmer.

It is amazing to hear my students work through their thinking while they are coding!

This learning guide contains everything you need to get started with coding!